Centre for Policy on Ageing



Profiles of psychological functioning in the old and oldest old
Author(s)	Jacqui Smith, Paul B Baltes
Journal title	Psychology and Aging, vol 12, no 3, September 1997
Pages	pp 458-472
Keywords	Cognitive processes ; Social characteristics [elderly] ; Personality ; Over 70s ; Cluster analysis ; Cross sectional surveys ; Germany.
Annotation	Cluster analysis was applied to twelve measures of intellectual, personality, self-related, and social functioning collected in the first cross-sectional phase of the Berlin Aging Study (BASE). Central questions concerned the number, profile desirability (functional status), and membership of the sub-groups obtained. Of the nine sub-groups extracted, four reflected different patterns of desirable functioning (47% of the sample), and five reflected less desirable functioning (53%). Relative risk of a less desirable profile was 2.5 times higher for the oldest old (85-103 years) than for those aged 75-84, and was 1.25 higher for women compared with men. Relationships with education, health, and mortality suggested underlying systemic differences. Consistent with theoretical propositions about a 'fourth age' and the incomplete architecture of life span development, the oldest old appear to have a distinct and less desirable psychological profile.
Accession Number	CPA-971120273 A
Classmark	DA: F: DK: BBK: 3YB: 3KB: 767
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.